“POI list?” Lisa said. “What’s that?”
“The Governor’s ‘Persons of Interest’ list,” Nancy said with a sneer. Grant’s pretty little wife wasn’t nearly as well informed as Nancy was. “It’s a wanted list of terrorists like your right-wing asshole husband. That’s what. So where is he, bitch?”
Lisa couldn’t believe someone was talking to her that way. “What did you just call me?”
“Bitch,” Nancy said, flatly. “Where is Grant Matson?” Nancy paused for effect, “bitch.” She loved this. She had hated Grant Matson for so long, and now she could finally get even.
Lisa turned from being shocked to furious. She tried to slam the door in Nancy’s face, but Nancy had put her foot in the door.
Nancy screamed, “Nice try, bitch. Let me in right now!”
The kids came out of their rooms and were at the top of the stairs, watching the commotion at the front door. Manda wanted to help. She grabbed Cole by the hand and they ran downstairs to help their mom against this crazy lady at the front door.
Lisa and Nancy struggled with the door. Finally Nancy, in a burst of adrenaline strength, pushed the door open and knocked Lisa down.
Thirteen year old autistic Cole lunged at Nancy. She pushed him back and knocked him to the ground hard. Really hard.
Cole hit the ground and cried out, “Why are you hurting us?”
Those words rang out. Why are you hurting us?
That did it for Lisa. Instantly, everything became clear. This was a war. No one hurts my kids, especially my innocent little Cole, she thought. Who was this violent bitch trying to break into her house? Lisa realized that she was in a fight. Not just with Nancy but with all of them. Things were not normal. People like Nancy had gone insane and were trying to hurt her and her family. Nancy hated Grant for some political reasons that were stupid. Instead of thinking “this can’t be happening,” right at that instant, Lisa realized it was happening, and she needed to take care of her family or something unthinkable would happen.
She jumped toward Nancy. Lisa was a runner and in great shape. She could take this fat baby boomer bitch who hurt Cole. She planted her shoulder in Nancy’s chest and knocked her down, then she started punching Nancy. Lisa felt her fists starting to hurt; she was totally out of control. She was fighting for her kids. She was beating the shit out of the crazy woman who was trying to break into their house.
Manda ran upstairs to get her revolver. She had to do something to help. She got the gun case out of her closet and opened the combination lock. She ran down the stairs with the gun in her hand.
By the time Manda got halfway down the stairs, she could see her mom had the crazy woman pinned to the ground and was punching her in the face. Manda thought her mom might kill the woman. Manda just watched, ready to shoot the woman if she got up. She saw Cole lying on the ground crying near the door. Manda grabbed him and took him into the nearby bathroom to keep him safe. Things were happening so fast. Manda went back to the entryway and saw her mom was standing over the woman. Her mom’s hands were bleeding and she was breathing heavy.
Lisa caught her breath and yelled, “Get out of my house, bitch!” She kicked Nancy. “Get out. If you come back, I’ll kick your ass again. Never hurt my son. Never. Get out before I get my gun.”
Nancy got up. She was afraid of getting shot. She ran out of the house. Those Matsons were crazy. Violent. No wonder he was a terrorist on the POI list. Nancy ran down the driveway and across the street to the Spencer’s house. She was yelling for someone to call 911. Sherri Spencer came out to see what was wrong. Nancy was bloodied and bruised, and told Sherri that Lisa Matson had beaten her. Sherri ran over to the Matsons.
Sherri saw Lisa, with blood on her hands, and yelled, “What’s going on? Are you OK?”
Lisa was catching her breath. “Nancy Ringman tried to break into my house. She hurt Cole. She’s crazy. She started hitting me. I fought back. She’s crazy.”
This was too much for Sherri. Her neighbors, two professional women, were fist fighting each other? That made no sense.
Lisa realized that she might have committed a crime. Not really, since it was self defense, but she realized that Nancy would claim that Lisa attacked her with a sword or something nuts like that.
Lisa yelled to Sherri, “Watch out. Nancy is crazy. Go protect your kids. She’s got something wrong with her. Go! Now.” Sherri ran back home.
Lisa heard Cole crying in the bathroom and ran in there to comfort him. “Don’t worry, lil’ guy, the bad lady is gone. She won’t be back.”
Cole looked at her and asked again, “Why are they hurting us?” That struck Lisa. Why are they hurting us? Why? Lisa wondered that herself. Why was a neighbor coming over to scream and fight and try to arrest her husband? Things were not normal.
Lisa knew what she had to do. She went downstairs and found that scrap of paper with the Korean cop’s phone number on it. They needed to get out of here. Things were crazy. There would be more Nancys and probably police now that Grant was on some terrorist list. There was no more “normal.”
Chapter 65
Milk Run Chaos
(May 7)
That morning, Pow was going out on a “milk run,” as they called it. That’s where they would escort some neighborhood people to the grocery store and the gas station. Things were still semi-civil in town. There was violence, but a very small percentage of people were engaged in it. Most were just trying to get some food and gas and get back home in one piece. And most were doing so successfully.
Many grocery stores and gas stations had a police car at the entrance, although there wasn’t always a cop to go with the car. Sometimes, the cops parked their car at a store and walked over to another one to double their coverage. There were occasional sirens, which just added to the scariness because it reminded people how the sirens went constantly a few days ago and now were largely silent. There was a definite sense that the police could not possibly control things anymore. But, most people still believed they could, despite the evidence they were seeing with their own eyes. Decades of thinking the police would always be there prevented people from evaluating the facts before their eyes.
At the stores, people were arguing and occasionally throwing punches to get the last of some kind of food or a place in the gas line. That would have been an amazing event in peacetime, but now was common. Wes and Scotty watched as a woman drew a revolver at a large man in the parking lot of the grocery store. By the time they could get over to where she was, the guy took off.
Overall, the Team was very surprised that things had not devolved into full-scale warfare. It amazed them that the stores were still open and selling things. The shelves were getting bare, prices were much higher, and the stores were only taking cash. Most people had come to realize that something bad was happening and that they better stock up for a few days. But they didn’t think this was the end of the world.
That morning, the rumor went around that the banks had closed and the ATMs were running out of cash. Bobby confirmed this when he was on the milk run. It made sense that the banks and ATMs would be closed. Armored cars full of money to restock them weren’t exactly driving around right now. Cash, like everything else, was supplied on a just-in-time inventory basis. And, with the internet down frequently, credit and debit cards weren’t working. No stores would take checks. Cash was it. And it was virtually gone.
This was a turning point. People would freak out when, finally, after looking all over town for some product they desperately needed, the store wouldn’t take their credit or debit card and they had no cash. They would yell, sometimes hit people, and occasionally pull out a gun. But no one on the Team had heard a gunshot yet.